1. Technical Field of the Invention
This invention relates to messaging and collaboration in a corporate Intranet environment using an HTTP proxy server.
2. Background Art
Advances and developments in packet networks, consumer premises equipment, network servers, and client software provide a synergistic environment for the development of new communication modes and complexities. Networks such as private intranets and the Internet have become features of private and public telecommunications infrastructures. E-mail is now a standard form of communication and information exchange, and instant messaging has become prevalent as a private extension to chat groups. Instant messaging services enable online or network connected parties to generate and deliver text messages to one another over the network. Some such services allow users to select other persons as collaborators and assign these collaborators to groups, automatically register a person when on-line, advertise the user's selected collaborators to the user when those collaborators register on-line, advertise the user's presence on-line to others who have selected the user as a collaborator, and participate in instant messaging communications between two on-line users.
One messaging solution utilizes instant messaging services and communication protocols to locate a registered user, query the user for a proposed message disposition or other action, and coordinate services among a plurality of communication devices, modes, and channels. A user proxy is registered to the user with an instant messaging system as a personal communication services platform. The user creates collaboration groups and defines specific attributes to associates within each group. Included within each associate definition is a user-selected priority assignment. If an associate is assigned a low priority by the user, the associate will never discern whether the user is online or offline, instead the associate will always communicate and interact with the user via the user proxy. If, however, the associate is assigned a high priority by the user, the associate will discern the user's online status any time he is registered on line. Associates assigned a highest priority by the user are able to interface with the user directly when the user is online, and interface with the user proxy when the user is offline.
Thus, in today's corporate environment there is a well known and addressed business need for messaging and collaboration software, such as Lotus Sametime, Microsoft Netmeeting, and the like. These solutions share the following characteristics. First, the user is required to explicitly start the client messaging application. Second, the user can explicitly terminate the messaging application instead of switching to ‘Do Not Disturb’ mode. Third, the client messaging application requires a separate login procedure.